UPSET: Cowboys Seek SHOCKING Victory Against Packers | Can Dallas STUN Green Bay on SNF?

Summary

Locked On Cowboys – "UPSET: Cowboys Seek SHOCKING Victory Against Packers | Can Dallas STUN Green Bay on SNF?"

Date: September 26, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Podcast Network: Locked On Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

In this special edition of the Locked On Cowboys podcast, Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool tackle the seemingly uphill Week 4 matchup: the Dallas Cowboys, seven-point home underdogs, hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. Rather than their typical Friday preview, they explore not just what the Cowboys must do, but how they could potentially pull off an "upset of the decade." The episode focuses on three critical paths to victory, with deep dives into defensive game plan, offensive strategy, and the intangibles Dallas must leverage to have a fighting chance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How the Cowboys Can Stop Jordan Love & the Packers Offense

(01:45–04:33, 05:58–10:42)

• Zone Coverage is Key:
  Landon breaks down Jordan Love's performance against zone vs. man coverage, concluding the Cowboys should stay in zone:

  • Love has higher completion percentage and yards per attempt vs. zone, but much lower success rate (39.8% vs. 53.5% in man).

    “He has twice the success rate versus man coverage. And every time you put yourself in man coverage, you’ve been burnt. There’s a reason you haven’t been playing it as much.” — Landon McCool (03:50)

• Pressure is Essential:

  • Jordan Love becomes far more mistake-prone under pressure. The Cowboys must manufacture pressure—especially with Green Bay’s depleted O-line.

    "He is basically the seven-on-seven, you know, flag football king, if he's not under pressure… If you could get him under pressure, he can be a high variance quarterback." — Landon McCool (06:16)

• Capitalize on Packers’ OL Injuries:

  • Green Bay’s line is missing key starters (Zach Tom out, backup Anthony Belton likely out, Aaron Banks struggling/out).
  • PFF rates replacement Jordan Morgan as one of the lowest graded guards in the league.

    "If Kenny Clark and Oso Digizua can win up front, they'll give you a chance." — Marcus Mosher (05:36)

• Leverage Defensive Variance:

  • The mix of stunts/twists rather than heavy blitzing is seen as an opportunity to “confuse” Green Bay’s patchwork OL.

    “You wonder if [stunts/twists aren’t] a really great way to get pressure right into Jordan Love’s face and to potentially get some surprises on him.” — Landon McCool (08:05)

• Green Bay WR Depth is Weakened:

  • Top targets Jaden Reed and Christian Watson are both out, leaving inexperienced receivers in big roles.

    "It's not like this is the most loaded receiver room in the league… with a shaky offensive line and receivers who might not be ready for this prime time moment, there is, there's a gleam here for the Cowboys." — Marcus Mosher (09:18)

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2. Cowboys Offensive Game Plan: Survive and Possess

(13:47–20:46)

• Possession, Not Explosiveness:
  • The hosts hammer the need for long, clock-eating drives to limit the Packers’ possessions and keep Dallas’ shaky defense off the field.

    “The name of the game is possessing the ball. Holding onto the ball, converting first downs, staying on schedule, making sure that you’re continuously keeping long drives.” — Landon McCool (13:52)

• First Down Efficiency:
  • Dallas must avoid negative plays and third-and-longs against a Green Bay defense with a 62% first down success rate.
    • Avoid trick plays, stick to quick, efficient plays.

      "You don't want to run like a trick play or a long developing screen or a reverse… No, gotta be efficient on first down." — Landon McCool (16:10)

• Strategic Playcalling:
  • Mix quick upfield throws with running plays, minimize plays going horizontally (no sideline check downs).
  • Identify and exploit Green Bay's defensive drop-off on second down, particularly using play-action from 12 personnel:

    "If you play action pass out of 12 personnel on second down, the Packers have a 16.7% success rate. You can make money on that." — Landon McCool (18:07)

• Mental Mistakes Kill:
  • Dallas, as the less talented team, can't afford penalties or self-inflicted wounds.

    "You can't have penalties, you can't have false starts… it's all the little things." — Marcus Mosher (19:16)

• Running the Ball Remains Crucial:
  • Grind the game down to shorten it and increase randomness; keep the score close, even if low.

    "You've got to get it where… each team had three possessions in the first half, and hey, we're going to halftime and it's a 13-to-10 type of game." — Marcus Mosher (20:12)

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3. The ‘Little Things’: Special Teams and Hidden Yardage

(23:10–24:12)

• Special Teams Advantage:
  • Green Bay’s units under Rich Passaccia have been error-prone; Dallas must ‘steal’ a possession or pin Green Bay deep.

    "They've got to steal either a possession or have a big kickoff or pin Green Bay deep if they're going to want to win this game." — Marcus Mosher (23:42)

  • This is seen as one of the few areas where Dallas has an unequivocal edge.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Defense’s Best Path:

  "We want random. We want weird things to happen. And honestly... you want the flow of this game to feel very choppy. That actually favors the Cowboys." — Marcus Mosher (10:42)

• On Facing Micah Parsons:

  “The whole name of this, is avoiding the Micah Parsons problem by limiting opportunities of obvious passing downs.” — Landon McCool (14:24)

• On What It Will Take to Win:

  “Possess the ball, stay on schedule, avoid any obvious passing situations. And if you could score while doing all that, then you may, you may have an opportunity to win this game.” — Landon McCool (20:46)

• On Fan Reaction to Micah Parsons’ Return:

  “I think a lot of Cowboys fans are kind of upset with Micah and the way he handled it. And he, you know, he lied to some folks as well... So I think folks don’t feel quite the way that people, other people outside of the Dallas and the organization think that they do.” — Landon McCool (27:26)

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Predictions & Stakes

(24:16–27:16)

• Both hosts pick the Packers, citing:
  • The sheer number of injuries and talent mismatches in Green Bay's favor
  • The narrow, difficult paths Dallas would need for victory
• Game could be close if:
  • Cowboys avoid early deficits and force a lower-possession, grind-it-out contest
• Psychological Stakes:
  • Marcus: “There’s probably more pressure on the Packers in this game than Dallas... If you drop this game, a game where you’re favored… now we’re having a different conversation about Green Bay.” (25:10)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:45] – Setting up the Cowboys’ challenge & defensive keys
• [05:36] – Packers’ offensive line injuries and impact
• [09:18] – Packers’ depleted receiving corps
• [13:47] – Keys to the Cowboys' offensive game plan
• [16:10] – The importance of efficiency on first down
• [18:07] – Second down play action vs. Packers defense
• [20:12] – Need for a grind-it-out pace and run game
• [23:10] – Hidden yardage & special teams advantage
• [24:16] – Predictions and stakes
• [27:26] – Crowd/fan reaction to Micah Parsons’ return

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Takeaways for Cowboys Fans

• Dallas must play a near-perfect, disciplined game and leverage every small edge (special teams, clock control, variations in defense).
• The odds are long, but grinding the game down, increasing variance, and forcing errors on a depleted Packers roster is their path.
• Avoiding self-destruction is as important as playmaking.
• The emotional stakes are high—especially around former Cowboy Micah Parsons’ return and the roster-building fates of both franchises.

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For more Cowboys analysis, follow Marcus (@Marcus_Mosher) and Landon (@McCoolBCB), and subscribe to Locked On Cowboys wherever you get podcasts.

Transcript

[Marcus Moer]

Foreign.

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[Landon McCool]

Us.

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[Marcus Moer]

If the Dallas Cowboys are going to pull off the upset of the decade, century, whatever time period you want, they're going to need to do these three things. We'll tell you what they are not next.

[Locked On Cowboys Network Announcer]

You are Locked on Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day.

[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Lock on Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockon podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. I, I am your host, Marcus Moer. Joining me today as always is Landon McCool and on today's show we are previewing the Packers Cowboys Sunday Night Football matchup here in week four. And rather than just doing our regular Friday preview, we've got something different in store for you guys today. We're going to talk about how the Cowboys can pull off a huge upset right now. They are seven point underdogs at home in this matchup against their former guy, Micah Parsons. I want to start with the Cowboys defense here, Landon, because that's really the the biggest David versus Goliath matchup.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

How do the Cowboys stop Jordan Love and the Packers?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, they're gonna have to find a way to do what they have not done previously and that's get after the quarterback, you know with with four man fronts and and play zone coverage behind because the truth is is like you look at, oh, there's all been all the discourse that we've had with the cow, how they need to mix it up and how they need to do this and that. I, I, I Think when you look at what Jordan Love does, well, right, it, it's, you know, I, I, I went to go look at the numbers because obviously it feels like the Cowboys are, are playing a ton of zone and I wanted to see how Jordan Love performed against zone coverage. Right? And it's, it's a real roller coaster if you look at it. You know, in one sense he, he has a 75 completion percentage and he's averaging 9.8 yards per attempt. That's crazy, right? And you compare that to zone to man coverage where he's at 60% at 7 point yards per attempt, which is also, I mean especially 7 yards per 10, it's pretty, pretty decent, right? However, if you dig deeper right with zone rate, he's actually, he's only added a 39.8 success rate. Now success rate again measures your ability on a per snap basis depending on down the distance to achieve a certain amount of yards on first down, a certain amount of yards a second down, all towards trying to achieve a first down. Right? And he's only, he's got a 39 8.8 success rate versus a 53.5 success rate versus man, which is a huge noticeable difference. So the Cowboys kind of need to play the game that they're playing, right? Like they, they, he has twice the success rate versus man coverage. And every time you put yourself in man coverage, you've been burnt. There's a reason you haven't been playing it as much. So I mean more zone is, is fine as if you, if you can get pressure up front with Jordan Love. On Jordan Love, the question is, can you do that? And I think it's an interesting matchup though.

[Marcus Moer]

Well, and let's, let's dive into that a little bit because the Cowboys are going to be without two starting offensive linemen, right. Cooper BB And Tyler Booker. But the packers could be without three starting offensive linemen. So let's run through this a little bit. Zach Tom, their right tackle, who pretty easily their best offensive lineman, he's already been ruled out. He is not playing this week. His backup, Anthony Belton was limited on practice on Wednesday, did not practice on Thursday. And there's a lot of people that don't believe he's going to play on Friday and that makes this really hard as to who's going to play right tackle. I think it's going to be Darian Canard, who's really a guard, but that's going to be probably his spot. Their big free agent edition, Aaron Banks, who they got from the 49ers. He's actually struggled quite a bit this year. He's been, did not practice, did not practice, not expected to play. And that's going to put a guy that actually we like quite a bit, Jordan Morgan from Arizona, at left guard. Now, Morgan's been working almost exclusively at tackle at left tackle during training camp and he's been having to bounce around a little bit. He's played guard in the first couple weeks of the season and he's actually one of PFF's lowest graded guards. So they are going to be down multiple offensive linemen. And again, I know the Cowboys don't have a great pass rush, but this feels like a game with a lot of new players. If Kenny Clark and Oso Digizua can win up front, they'll give you a chance.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, and again, I don't think we can, you know, impress upon folks enough that having Bland and Diggs play, you know, like, and again every week away from this. You hope that Diggs is getting a little bit better. But I mean, honestly, you can limit the BL area of this by maybe rotating Diggs and, and, and you know, some of the other guys that you have in there and, and just to kind of, you know, work everybody in. You're probably going to need to do the same thing with Bland. But just having one more competent cover guy I think could make a huge difference here. And, and I also think, you know, again, the, the difference in the quarterback play for Jordan Love when he's under pressure versus when he's not under pressure is significant. I mean, he is basically the seven on seven, you know, flag football king. If he's not under pressure, he's the guy that you want. But if you could get him under pressure, he can be a high variance quarterback. I mean, I just kind of quoted you the numbers we saw with zone coverage and then you add in pressure to that. That's really where, you know, he, that's where you have his interception. He took, I think he's taken five sacks versus zone coverage versus one sack versus man coverage. So he obviously, you know, can get rattled and then he can make mistakes. He's not like, you know, a, a, a, a like a classic failure kind of guy who just crumbles under pressure. But you're certainly going to have a better chance against Jordan Love with him under pressure than just letting him have a clean pocket and dropping eight guys or something.

[Marcus Moer]

And one of the things I want to know in this game is does Matt Eber FL lean on the four man rush against an offensive line that's got a lot of moving parts or because you have so many guys, do they try to stunt more? Do they try to blitz more just to try to confuse them?

[Landon McCool]

Maybe not blitz because obviously that's been a thing with him in general. But stunts, I think twists and stunts are going to be a heavy part of this game. Look, I mean, the packers offense has not been great so far as a rushing football team, right. I think they've had their lowest success rate in the last few years. I think it was something like 35% success rate in the run game, whereas normally it's up above 40%, you know, and what you worry about with some of these stunts and twists are giving up big plays. If you're willing to sacrifice the run game specifically because your fits aren't quite as right, if you're willing to sacrifice some of that opportunity cost and, and you throw some twists on a, a group that, you know, struggled last week with this as well. You add in all the injuries and all the, the moving pieces and the, all the communication that it requires in order to pass stunts properly, you wonder if that isn't a really great way to get pressure right into Jordan Love's face and to potentially get some surprises on him, which again, that's only going to help your chances here.

[Marcus Moer]

One more thing, they're not full strength on the offensive line, but they're not full strength at wide receiver either. Now, Green Bay has more wide receiver depth than any team in the league, but at least going into the season and after the first two games of the year, Jaden Reed was the de facto number one receiver. He's having, or he had collarbone surgery and a Jones fracture surgery at the same time. He's out. Christian Watson, who is their deep threat, he is out. So that means they're going to rely on Matthew Golden, a guy that we talked about a lot during the pre draft process. Still pretty green. Romeo Dobbs, who's going to play on the outside, he's more of a big body possession guy. And then there's Don Tavian Wicks, who is probably one of the most high variance receivers in the league. Yeah, get open. He makes plays after the catch, doesn't always catch the ball. It's not like this is the most loaded receiver room in the league. And yes, the Cowboys coverage is very up and down, but with a, you know, with a shaky offensive line and receivers who might not be ready for this prime time moment, there is, there's a gleam here for the Cowboys Yeah.

[Landon McCool]

I mean, again, I think. Look, we'll talk about it in the next segment, but I think a huge part of winning this football game is going to be about your offense possessing the football and just limiting opportunities for the Packers. And the hope is, is that, you know, the. The less exposure that you put your defense out there, the. The less chance for, you know, enormous play after play after play. And then you can, you know, you add up the variance by blitzing maybe a little bit more, doing some of the twists that we talked about. So the hope is, is that, you know, you can get the. Get the Packers a couple different times in a situation where they're uncomfortable, they make a mistake, you take advantage. And then as the game goes on, if you're able to possess the ball on offense, they lose. Opportunity cost. Maybe that makes them desperate, maybe that makes them try things a little bit more. And again, that ups the variance, which for the Cowboys defense, that's what you're looking for. You want variance.

[Marcus Moer]

We want random. We want weird things to happen. And honestly, yeah, that's the thing. You want the flow of this game to feel very choppy. Right. That actually favors the Cowboys, and that's how they're going to have to try to win this one. Let's talk about the Cowboys offense because honestly, that's the most important thing here. If the Cowboys offense can do their job, they're going to be right into this game going into the fourth quarter. We'll get to that unit next. This episode is brought to you by Square. Your favorite neighborhood spots run on Square. There are certain businesses that truly make the neighborhood feel like home. Whether it's that local sports bar that's packed on game days, or the corner coffee shop that knows your order by heart, or the little restaurant that's by my house that has the absolute best pizza, these are the piece. The places that bring people together with the neighborhood. Businesses thrive. The whole neighborhood thrives. I love going to this little restaurant. It's less than a mile from my house. They've got the best pizza that you can order by the slice. They've got the absolute best sandwiches, hoagies, subs, whatever you want to call it. And they run their business on Square. It makes. It just makes your day better when you walk in there, you get a slice of pizza and you leave and you say hi to everybody. And Square is a proud partner of more than 4 million neighborhood businesses around the world. You can go to square.com go locked on to learn more. But before you do, go support your favorite neighborhood spot, whether that's that coffee shop or that local restaurant. And you'll be happy that you did square. See you in the neighborhood. This episode is brought to you by Door Dash. It's almost the weekend. It's time to look back and crown this week's MVP on who Delivered. Powered by Door Dash. Just like you can win every Saturday with Door Dash streaks, saving more every time that you order, these players delivered when it mattered the most. So let's break it down for this week. I'm actually going with Tyler Booker went back and watched the tape. He was phenomenal for the Cowboys. It's a bummer that he's going to miss the next four or so games, but it really feels like he started to turn a corner and become the player that we all envisioned when the Cowboys drafted him in round one. That performance wasn't a fluke. Tyler Booker is officially on a streak. And just like Tyler Booker delivered for the Cowboys in week three, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays. And with doordash streaks, you save on every Saturday order. Stack it up all season long and you could save up to $250, including a hundred dollars in doordash credits. Order this Saturday, keep the streak alive and fuel your game day only with DoorDash term supply. Welcome back to the Lon Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. Landon, let's talk about this Cowboys offense and we should at least start with mentioning Boogeyman. Is that too strong? Mike Martin's here. How do the Cowboys limit the impact of Micah Parsons on Sunday?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, so it's all part of the overall game plan that they're going to have to figure out a path of victory that they're going to have to work towards. And there's three kind of key things that we've identified. They need to possess the ball. The name of the game is possessing the ball. Holding onto the ball, converting, converting first down, staying on schedule, making sure that you're continuously keeping long drives. You want to create as many long scoring drives as possible to. To not only because that will, you know, keep the ball away from the Green Bay packers offense, which more importantly keep your defense on the bench. But I think the long scoring drives usually are indications of successful run game. I think you need to be able to mix things up against this, this Green Bay defense in order to keep Micah Parsons off the field. And I think the first thing you need to do is find a way to win first down. Right. That's going to be the, the kind of first thing. We'll talk about second down here in a second, but to me you gotta get to a situation. The Green Bay defense has been fantastic on first down. They're having a plus 62 success rate on, on both passing and running. So the Cowboys have got to find a way to kind of break through and at least get positive gains on first down. And they have to keep out of, specifically out of third and long situations. That's the whole name of this, is avoiding the Micah Parsons problem by limiting opportunities of obvious passing downs. We could talk about second downs in a bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit.

[Marcus Moer]

Sorry, it's. I think they need to control the clock. Right. That's the big thing for me is you want to put together these eight and nine minute drives that just limit the number of possessions. Right. But I feel like Green Bay is one of the league's best first down run defenses and they're going to probably run blitz. So that's where it's almost like. Does Shoddy try to do a lot of like these short underneath passes to Jake Ferguson like we've seen over the last couple weeks? Do we try to see more of like the screen game?

[Landon McCool]

Like.

[Marcus Moer]

Because the goal is you don't need to try to hit big plays on first down. You just want to get those six yard plays. They get you to second and four. So then you could run the ball and hey, if you get into third and one, that's fine. Get to third and one, fourth and one, you're okay. I. There's got to be a balance, right? You. You can't go 90 first down runs, but you've got to be aggressive and you can't live in your fears either.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. No. I mean, you know, success rate for that first down defense is, is, Is tough on both sides. Right. Passing and running. So I think you're gonna need to mix it up obviously. And I think that, you know, mixing in pass and the, the issue is, is that I think at times they've gotten a little too tricky on first downs. And, and this is not a team that you can. You don't want to run like a trick play or a, a long developing screen or a, A reverse that could potentially have a big loss. No, I got to be efficient on first down.

[Marcus Moer]

The other thing I, I would like to see is this Green Bay defense is incredibly fast. It. It's. They fly to the football.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

And I think la. One of the things we saw too much last week is on first down It's a lot of things that are going to the sideline. Like it's, you know, the play action boots to Jake Ferguson and it's a lot of that kind of stuff. I don't think you can do that in this game. I think it's got to be more of the why stick with Ferguson where he goes up the field 6 yards, turns around or breaks to the outside and the ball is coming out on a five step drop or a three step drop. That's how you beat Green Bay. Not trying to beat them to the edge.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. First down, it's run game and then quick game stuff, right? Efficient, quick game, easy completions up the field. But up. Yeah, but up the field, yeah. Not, not getting like horizontal to try to like throw like you know, a screen out to, to cd, you know, on, on the edge or. No, I guess like CD but Pickens on the edge. Yeah. So I agree. The key here to me is going to be second down, right? Because second down is where you can attack this Green Bay defense. And, and I've narrowed it down to where exactly and how exactly you want to to get get them. They are significantly less successful versus the pass on second down. Right now they have an overall pass success rate on defense of 60.6%. That number drops down to 45.2% on second downs. If you filter out just play action passes, their success rate drops to 30%. Now the other aspect we've talked about is with the Micah Parsons situations, you're going to want to have a lot of help on the edges, which is something that you want to do probably to run the, in the run game anyways because of the personnel matchups that you're going to get if you play action pass. Out of 12 personnel on second down, the packers have a 16.7% success rate. You can make money on that. You can. If you can get 12 personnel out there and, and throw the football and then get yourself into. This is the ultimate goal. Get yourself into third and short enough that you can convert that third down by running the football as opposed to having to pass the football. You can have success moving this foot, moving the football. Keep the ball away from the Green Bay offense and you know, at least minimize as much as you can. The Micah Parsons situation, that's gonna be the game, right?

[Marcus Moer]

Like can you create big plays down the field there? I don't envision the Cowboys trying to take very many shots just because of the state of the offensive line. More CD Lamp. So it's probably only going to Be, it's probably going to be two or three times. You've got to connect on them and you've got to, you know, get chunk plays. The other thing is, is you are not the more talented team. Don't beat yourself. And that's the, that's the worry when you have guys out there, you know, you know, TJ Bass and Brock Hoffman, even though they started a lot of games in the league, you can't have penalties, you can't have false starts, you can't have your receiver not lining up on the line of scrimmage. Like it's all the little things because you know you could have a really successful first down play. You get, you know, five yards and then you get a false start and it's back to the second and 10. You are going to get crushed in this game if you make those kind of mental mistakes. So if you get called for holding, you get called for holding. It's not a big deal. But the mental mistakes have got to be kept to a minimum.

[Landon McCool]

One thing lastly, before we go, that's even more of a reason why you should do quick game stuff on first down, right? Less chance of a holding call if you're not asking the guys to hold up quickly. Boom, boom, boom, get the ball out quickly. Less, less, less opportunity for penalties as well.

[Marcus Moer]

And the other one more thing, they've got to have success running the ball. We talked about this, but the, the way to, to keep this game close is just to try to grind them out and turn this game, you know, really speed it up where it's, you know, it's 9:15 here on the east coast and we're down to the two minute warning like that. You want a fast game because if you try to get into a shootout, as good as the Cowboys offense is, their defense is not good enough to stop Green Bay. So you've got to, you've got to get it where it's. Each team had three possessions in the first half and hey, we're going to halftime. And it's a 13 to 10 type of game.

[Landon McCool]

Possess the ball, stay on schedule, avoid any obvious passing situations. And if you could score while doing all that, then you may, you may have an opportunity to win this game.

[Marcus Moer]

Yeah. All right, let's give our predictions for this Packers Cowboys Sunday Night Football showdown. We will get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IIHS Top safety pick awards than anyone else from footwork to breath work, athlete sweat, all the details. And Mazda brings the same intention to how they craft every single model. You can feel the Japanese craftsmanship in every detail. From metallic accents to available Napa leather upholstery, you can make your everyday drives feel like anything. But with their smooth handling and incredible controls. And with all wheel drive standard in every crossover suv, you can drive with confidence through almost any season. I know where I live, you absolutely have to have all wheel drive. And that is where Mazda delivers. And like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda move and be moved.

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[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. For your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL podcast. Two shows every single day. One in the morning with Tyler Rowland, one in the afternoon with Tony Wiggins. Available wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Landon, one thing before we get into predictions here for this week four matchup was talking with Peter Bukowski with Locked on Packers. Go check out that episode. If you missed it, it was on Thursday.

[Landon McCool]

Bless you. Bless you, Marcus.

[Marcus Moer]

Yeah, a lot of, a lot of good comments about that episode. So please check it out. One of the things that Peter mentioned is that Rich Passaccia, who is the packers special teams coach, used to be the Cowboys. His units have been very poor. And honestly, they lost a game last week. They had no business losing because their special teams units weren't very good. And we say this every week. This is one of the big advantages the Cowboys have between Brandon, Aubrey, Cavante, Turpin and their kickoff units. They've got to steal either a possession or have a big kickoff or pin Green Bay deep if they're going to want to win this game.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, hidden yardage is going to have to be a part of this because again, the Cowboys are the less talented team. And you know, I think just to kind of fold this into this last segment here, like the Cowboys are overmatched here. I mean, I think that's clear and I think that the paths to victory that they have are very few. So, yeah, special teams is going to definitely need to be A part of this if they, the Cowboys are going to try to win this game for sure.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, so let's give our predictions. Who do you got winning?

[Landon McCool]

I mean, it's, look, I mean, there's a reason that we had to have this episode framed the way it is because there's not a lot of opportunity, not a lot of chances for the Cowboys because of injuries, because of the, the mismatch aspect of it, because of the way the team has been playing, obviously. So I definitely am picking the packers this week. Unfortunately. I, I do think that everything that we've laid out is a realistic path to victory. The cow are playing at home. They're, they're, you know, there is certainly a way that things could fall the right way for the Cowboys and they steal a victory from a, from a still young quarterback who's, you know, still can be a high variance guy at some times. And, and I think there are some, you know, mismatches that the Cowboys can take advantage of, but the, the, the sheer volume of, like we said, paths to victory for Green Bay is, is large. And so I have to just kind of play the numbers here to a large degree. I pick the packers to win.

[Marcus Moer]

I, I will say Peter said that there's probably more pressure on the packers in this game than Dallas and honestly, I, I, I, I agree with that because Green Bay is coming off a really bad loss to Cleveland. They just saw the Lions go into Baltimore and destroy them. Minnesota looked fantastic the last two games. Right. And then Chicago obviously won, you know, last week and they've invested so much into really these next two years that they've got to go out and try to get that number one seed, it's so important to them to get it because of their home field advantage. If you drop this game, a game where you're favored, you know, on the road road by seven points. Now we're having a different conversation about Green Bay.

[Landon McCool]

Without a doubt. I mean, look, I mean, here's the other part of it too, is what are the conversations around Green Bay going to be like if Dallas beats Green Bay?

[Marcus Moer]

That's, that's what I'm saying. Like there's, yeah, a lot of, it's the, Truthfully, this is a much bigger game for Green Bay than it is Dallas. And I know Dallas will fall to one in three if they don't win this game. But Green Bay, with how expensive that roster is, if they're two and two after this, you know, the start that they had, big deal. Having said all that, they're on different.

[Landon McCool]

Tracks like these two teams like so. Yeah, the expectations are different.

[Marcus Moer]

Having said that, I'm taking the packers minus seven or whatever the line is this. There's part of me that wants to believe that this game is going to be close and that the, the public is going to be just hammering packers minus seven. And maybe this game is closer than what most people expect. But I could also see this like really rolling downhill for Dallas, you know, in a bad way where you get behind 14 nothing and now you're in a drop back game. And that's how Micah Parsons has kind of made his living with the Cowboys before is you get into these games where you have to throw the ball and you've got no chance.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, they got to keep it close early. They got to find a way to keep it a ball game into the fourth quarter and then they'll have a chance. If they can get into the fourth quarter and this game is like within a score and they're moving the ball. I think that they have a chance just because of all the special teams aspect, the quarterbacks, who they are, who the Dak Prescott is, they all have a chance. But it's going to be extremely difficult for them to get to that fourth quarter with within what? Touchdown.

[Marcus Moer]

Last thing before we go.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

What is the reaction going to be when Micah Parsons is like announced or you know, he takes the field for the first time? How do you think Cowboy fans are going to handle that?

[Landon McCool]

You know, Mina Kimes came out and tweeted today that she thinks that, you know, she understands who Cowboys fans blame for this. And I'm not so certain, you know, like I, I thought, I felt like for sure that this was going to be a situation where everyone would be against Jerry because everyone's been against Jerry and you know, rightfully so. I'm not defending it, but it just, you know, obviously it felt like, you know, Jerry would take the blunt of it even if, even if the, the, you know, it was, some of it was Micah Parsons fault. And I don't think that's the case. I think a lot of Cowboys fans are kind of upset with Micah and the way he handled it. And he, you know, he lied to some folks as well by saying that he didn't care about the money he wanted to stay with. The Cowboys ends up requesting a trade. So I think folks don't feel quite the way that people, other people outside of the Dallas and the organization think that they do.

[Marcus Moer]

It's going to be a very weird environment on Sunday. Night in at and T Stadium. I'm looking forward to the game. Can't wait to watch it. We want to thank you guys for making Lock on Cowboys your first listen every single day. Check out the channel on YouTube, download the podcast wherever you get your podcast. We are free and available on all platforms. Follow Landon on Twitter @mccoolbcb I'm @marcus Underscore Moser. Enjoy Sunday Night Football and we'll see you guys right back here after the game.

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[Landon McCool]

This is Fire TV's College Football Kickoff. I'm Drake Toll alongside North Carolina and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jesse Holley and the hall of Famer Gary Patterson. We're previewing the biggest matchups in college football with unmatched insight.

[Marcus Moer]

And I know a little something something.

[Landon McCool]

That'S exactly right, coach. Every Thursday right here on Fire tv.